Ripple, Barclays and other investors have backed a $1.7 million round for SendFriend, a new remittance startup that will use the XRP cryptocurrency to move funds internationally.

Announcing the news on Monday, the New York-based firm said the Mastercard Foundation, MIT Media Lab, Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures and 8 Decimal Capital also participated in the round. Barclays took part via its “Barclays powered by TechStars” accelerator program, into which SendFriend was accepted last September.

The money raised will go toward hiring staff, as well as focusing on community engagement and marketing, said SendFriend’s co-founder and chief executive officer David Lighton.

SendFriend, which said it was founded at MIT, aims to serve overseas workers from the Philippines, using XRP and Ripple’s xRapid product for cross-border settlements.